I am back. I was not going to sign back up on DG. Things were so quiet, plus money will be at a premium shortly.
Anyway - I went out back to see if I could see anything with the snow melting. It looks like I have lost at least 3 fish. Not sure why. I am hoping that enough of the ice melts in the next couple of days so that I can see more......
I am hoping I didn't loose all of my fish. I know they said this was the coldest February we had had since they started keeping records in 1890.
Fish Loss?
Oh no! Do you think it froze all the way to the bottom? Did you have an ice hole somewhere to allow the gasses to escape?
Sad to see you leave DG...things will get active again now that the world is thawing out!
Oh Mary -
I have 2 deicers that I use. The are checked almost daily.
I was talking to the gentleman that owns the pond store that I frequent. He asked me if the fish were all white or if they still retained their color. My fish are still very brightly colored. He then told me that the loss was recent. Probably in the past couple of weeks or they would be all white. Something that I did not know.
This past February was the coldest we have had since they started keeping records back in 1890. My pond guy thinks the loss is from that, as well as oxygen. He also said he thinks this ponding season, that he will be hearing of much more loss. I was the first that had called him.
I know there are at least 3 fish, if not 4 that are dead. I am hoping I do not have a total loss. Time will tell. If I have only lost 3 or 4, I should be fine. If I have lost many, but not all, I am hoping to replenish from a spawning or two.
I will keep you posted as the ice recedes from the pond.
It is good to be back. I had let my membership expire last September.
Take Care.
Carolyn
Carolyn,
Glad to see you back on here. I am so sorry u have lost a few fish but sure hope you don't loose any more.
Soon will be spring clean up time around here. My water is brown from tannin of oak trees so will do major water change. Now that we have large fish I can't remove them all for thorough clean up so will just do major drawn down and pressure wash what I can and vacuum bottom to eliminate all debris.
Jeff and I are going to koi show in Orlando Sat. Can't wait. We both want a couple of little kahukas if we can find them.
Glad your ice is receding.
Time will tell how many I lose. It seems when I was leaving the house this afternoon, that I counted 5 under the ice. I am not sure. I do know they are my largest fish. Hopefully the ice will recede quickly. I don't like leaving the bodies in the pond, but right now, they frozen into the ice - so I cannot get them out. It is supposed to rain quite a bit this weekend. That usually helps to thaw things quickly.
Last night I pulled out 6 of my larger koi. There is another one that is trapped in the ice that I cannot free up. I put my spare deicer out there to see if I can make my hole in the ice larger. I am hoping to be able to pull that fish out today.
Dave and I saw a spot under the ice and snow that seems to be yellow and not moving. We think it is our large yellow female. I will work on that area with the spare deicer later today.
We are supposed to get rain all weekend, so I am hoping the ice recedes quickly.
I am worried if I do not have a total loss, that the dead fish in the pond will foul up my water. What I am wondering is will this show up if I test my water? If it does show up in a water test, will this show as a spike in ammonia?
Thoughts?
TIA
They have a cold water blend "arctic blend" of coldwater good bacteria. You may want to get some and add it to your water to keep the toxicity from developing. You already have the opening for gasses to escape. I'm so sorry this happened to you during this overly odd winter.
MM
Thank you for the information on the cold water blend. I am going to look for it. I am counting more colored patches under the ice. At this point, I am hoping to come out of this with enough fish to spawn this year.
Thanks again.
Geeze. here we go again.
Carolyn, so sorry, I was hopping you only lost a couple. You had an extremely cold winter.
I lost 4 fair sized ones and at koi show I found out why. Too much oak bloom forming sludge that turns into ammonia plus I forgot to turn pumps back on overnight. I have forgotten pumps before and it never did anything.
Yesterday I pumped whole pond out-pressure washed, vacuumed thoroughly and filled back up.
I am so thankful it wasn't larger pond cause that houses all the big ones we have. Moved 4 fair sized ones to larger pond and put 3 little ones in holding tank until I had it refilled last night by 9PM. I hated to miss church but had to do it ASAP.
Didn't buy a thing at koi show. Prices were too high I felt. Jeff bought a platinum ogon for $100. and right now it's in quarenteen before entering large pond in a week or so.
We will make a trip to fish farm in a couple of weeks. I told him he and his boys could clean larger pond. I really busted my butt yesterday doing pond by myself but then he and his boys did do major work cleaning up oak leaves from all around the both ponds. I had 3 foot piles all over.
I slipped down in all the sludge and once I stopped laughing got up and went on and finished the job. Boy a shower sure felt good after we were done.
M. Mary didn't see you Sat. at show. I hope you made it. Vendor there had a few Chinese high fin sharks but he wanted $100. for them and they were only about 5" so I passed them up.
Little pond only has 3 little fish in it so I will see what fish farm has when we go. Also Jeff called Blackwater Creek in Eustis and they said he could tour only gold fish cause they sell koi wholesale and theirs are expensive also. No hurry at filling little pond with fish again. We seem to have better luck pricewise at Sandy Acres Koi Farm. I will check for vail tail you were interested in. They carry both goldfish and koi.
Don't get discouraged Carolyn. Ponding seems to have its ups and downs as I well know.
MM - Thank you for that link. I really do appreciate it.
Bonnie - Thank you for the words of encouragement. I am hoping to have a few that are still alive so that I can get a real good spawning.
Today is supposed to be 54 degrees, which should help get rid of some of the ice.
I will let you know what happens today.
Went to fish farm so little pond no longer looks empty. Bought lots of little ones and have to get smaller food as they get their mouths around larger pellets. Jeff has some ordered.
Hope everything up your way is melting by now. You have had enough winter.
Bonnie -
Yes, we have had enough winter. Yesterday, I emptied the pond and found the last dead fish. The pond was refilled last night and I have a bubbler going. I want to get a pump going, but the weather is crappy. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a pump or two going. I want to throw some microbelift in too - it is supposed to break down bad bacteria.
Hopefully, I will be able to get some new fish sooner rather than later.
Carolyn, hopefully a winter like you had this year only comes once every 30 years! Starting over is sad, but it opens the door to get what you want. Here's hoping to a great spring!
Thank you MM.
I am hoping we can go fish shopping soon, although I don't have my pumps going yet and my skimmer is still full of ice. I do have my bubbler going and am hoping today is mild enough to get at least 2 of the other pumps running.
I am hoping to take pictures when we do get the new fish. I know my husband said something about certain fish that he wanted and he is partial to asagi's. I would like a shishui and I really want a red butterfly matsuba, but I think my chances of finding one are probably slim.
In any event, it should be fun to go fish shopping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-inch-Aka-Matsuba-Live-koi-fish-pondgarden-GKOLRT4-/151618479364?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234d2a6504
I'll keep watching for a butterfly version....
He is gorgeous! Have you ever bought fish from ebay MM? I have not.
Yes! Many many times! I've always been happy, there are a good many fantastic vendors on ebay. I pay with paypal, so any purchase is covered. And the best thing is they get delivered right to my door :)
MM
Please share some of the sellers' names. I saw on FB where several people lost fish after they had been delivered from NDK. This makes me a bit leary of NDK.
Thanks
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Aka-Bekko-Butterfly-Live-Koi-Fish-Kloubec-Koi-8929P5-/151631011354?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234de99e1a
Also a pretty one...
NDK is actually a very reliable company. I've ordered from them for years. Every company can potentially lose a fish after shipping ( I for one have a neanderthanl UPS driver, and he replaced the one that would let boxes sit in the sun all day before delivering ) That's not an NDK problem. They DO guarantee their fish... I ordered a cluster of 10 3inch fish once, and one died. They sent 2 new replacement fish AND refunded my money. Can't argue with customer service like that. They also have a $40 shipping fee, which is accurate but still stiff, but will ship all of your koi for that one price. So I look to see if they have 6 or 7 that I'm interested in and have them all shipped together.
Kodama Koi is also very reputable. They usually sell larger more expensive fish, but don't charge for shipping (which is unheard of with koi!)
BKD will be listing soon, they take the winter off, and I've always had great results with their fish as well.
:)
Thank you so much MM. Ironically, I was looking at that bekko too!
Pumps, uv lights are pressure filters will be up and running this weekend.
MM
This is the one I really like. I just messaged them to see if they can hold it for me if I buy it. I still don't have my pumps running as the weather has been too cold to work outside. DH and I are shooting for Sunday to get everything up and running and then I will need to circulate the pond with some microbelift.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151631011978?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Very nice! The Kloubecs are also a very reputable seller. I'm looking at a few of theirs as well!
I did see an issue with this little guy's tail and have been messaging the Kloubecs on ebay. They have indicated there is an issue and cannot sell him like this. They are treating him and asked if I wanted them to contact me when he was through his treatments. I did tell them, yes, however I also wanted to know what the issue was and how it was being treated.
This plays into my hands as far as getting my pumps and filters running too.
That's a beautiful fish. Good luck Carolyn at refilling your pond with fish.
Sure does help you! :)
Thank you MM. It sure does help.:)